The number of devices using Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) continues to show dramatic growth. WLANs allow users the ability to connect to high-speed services without being tethered to wireline connections. WLANs are wireless communications systems that are based on the IEEE 802.11 series of technical standards. Typically, as the number of devices using WLANs increases, it is expected that a given wireless channel will become more crowded, resulting in a decrease in channel efficiency of the wireless channel due to the occurrence of more collisions.
A newly formed IEEE 802.11 Study Group named “High Efficiency WLAN (HEW)” has been formed to study, among other things, techniques on how to avoid collisions and improve channel efficiency in highly crowded environment.